This invention relates generally to the field of lawn mowing devices and more particularly to an improved and more efficient means to route air and newly cut grass particles under and around circular lawn mower housings.
The present invention permits the improved flow of grass particles through the use of semicircular baffles concentric to the axis of the rotating blade and extending downward from the bottom of the circular housing.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, two short semicircular baffles are used and each has a slanting portion extending outward and upward from the lowest edge of the baffle to the housing. These slanting portions are sections of cones and help to avoid the accumulation of grass particles under the housing and permit a more uniform distribution of the cut grass particles behind the lawn mower.
Bushboom, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,863
No federal funding, direct or indirect, has been utilized in conjunction with the development of the present invention.
No microfiche records are used in the application submitted for the present invention.
No prior art can be found which discloses the present invention. There is one example of baffles used to route air and grass particles by Bushboom, U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,863, which has a different purpose of directing the flow upward to a discharge port. The Bushboom patent discloses openings in the baffles near the housing to permit this upper discharge flow. No slanted portion for the baffle is disclosed. No prior art can be found which seeks to manage the flow of air and grass particles using enact semicircular baffles with or without slanted portions. No prior art stresses the importance of creating a laminar flow pattern of air and grass particles just under the housing or the importance of the placement of the baffles to create a fan shaped discharge.
The present invention permits grass to be cut and distributed in a more efficient manner by providing a more efficient means to route air and newly cut grass particles under and around a circular lawn mower housing and its horizontal rotating blade. This is realized by improving the flow of air and grass particles through the use of semicircular baffles concentric to the axis of the rotating blade and extending downward from the circular housing near its outer inside surface. Another important advantage of this invention is to avoid the creation of rows of cut grass, also called windrows, by uniformly distributing the cut grass in a fan or arc behind the cutting unit.
Two or more short semicircular baffles are used and each has a slanting portion extending outward and upward from the lowest edge of the baffle to the housing. The slanting portion is a section or a cone and helps to avoid the accumulation or grass particles on the outer, lower surface of the housing near and between the baffles.
These and other objects an advantages of the present invention will become clear to those skilled in the art in view of the description of the best presently known mode of carrying out the intention and the applicability of the preferred embodiment as described here in and as illustrated in the several figures of the drawings.